Third Grade
by SamanthaReese
Summary: The third grade installment, to my Criminal Minds school series!
1. Camping

**A/N: Hello again, my lovely readers! It's me again, and I'm back with another installment to my "Criminal Minds" School series. I hope you all are ready to read about our favorite B.A.U. team, while they're in the third grade! Here is the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Luke's parents.**

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Summer was nearing its end and Luke really wanted to have a celebration with his friends, before school started back up. So after many days of pleading and begging with his parents, he finally got his wish. They agreed he could have a camp out with all his friends, a weekend before school started back up.

The weekend before school had finally arrived, and it was time for the celebration that Luke had so desperately wanted. It was a hot Friday evening, in late July and Luke and all his friends were seated in folding chairs, in his back yard. They were roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Two large tents were set up. One for the boys and one for the girls. Each child had brought their own sleeping bag.

"Will, roast me a marshmallow," JJ demanded. "I have to take care of Baby Whiskers Bon Bon."

"Whatever keeps me away from that creepy doll, I'll do it," Will mumbled.

"What was that," JJ asked.

"Hm? Oh, I said, 'sure, I'll be happy to roast a marshmallow for you'," said Will.

JJ smiled. "Thanks Will. I knew you'd understand," she said.

"JJ, did you really have to bring that doll with you," Elle asked. "You do realize that she creeps everyone out, right?"

JJ rolled her eyes at Elle. "Uh… Yeah. I kind of did have to bring Baby Whiskers Bon Bon with me," she said. "I'd be a terrible mommy if I left her at home, all by herself."

"JJ, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get in trouble for leaving a doll at home, all by itself," said Haley. "And besides, you didn't always bring Baby Whiskers Bon Bon with you, to school all the time."

"Well, that was the past," said JJ. "I'm older now. So I've learned the error of my ways. Baby Whiskers Bon Bon would be getting into soooooooooooooo much trouble, if she was by herself."

"It's a doll. It can't get into any trouble," said Spencer. "So, I'm pretty sure that there really were no error of ways that you needed to learn from."

JJ scowled at Spencer. "Can you not refer to Baby Whiskers Bon Bon as an it," she rudely asked. "She's not a creepy clown who lives in the…"

"Here's your roasted marshmallow," Will interrupted JJ.

"Oh goody! My marshmallow," JJ joyfully exclaimed. She quickly threw the doll off her lap, but when she threw it, it landed into the camp fire. Nearly everyone gasped, as there was no way retrieving the doll from the flames. They all looked to JJ, to see what her reaction was. JJ was stunned at first, but then she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Guess, I'll be needing a new doll now." She then took a bite of her marshmallow.

The rest of the children were surprised at JJ's reaction. They all thought, she'd be bawling her eyes out. After all, Baby Whiskers Bon Bon was her favorite doll or so they thought. Suddenly without warning, Will began weeping, loudly. Everyone turned their attention to him, staring at him, as if he had grown an extra head.

"What's wrong, Will," asked Alex. She seemed to be very concerned.

"Maybe a cricket crawled into his shoe and karate chopped his foot," suggested Derek.

"I highly doubt that," said Maeve. "Crickets cannot karate chop."

Hearing the cries of Will, Luke's mother, Savelina Alvez came rushing out the back door of the house. There was a worried expression on her face. She knelt down to Will's level. "What's wrong, sweetie," she asked.

"Baby Whiskers Bon Bon got thrown into the fire," Will wailed.

Savelina let out a shocking gasp. "Who's Baby Whiskers Bon Bon," she asked. She was looking more worried.

"Eh… She used to be my doll, but then I accidentally threw her into the camp fire," JJ casually announced.

Savelina placed her hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God," she announced. "I thought someone had gotten hurt." She then picked up a long stick and fished the doll out of the camp fire. Pouring some water on to the doll, to put out the remaining flames, Savelina then turned to JJ. "I'm so sorry, this happened to your doll," she said in an apologetic tone. "I'm sure you must have loved this doll."

JJ waved her hand, dismissively. "That's okay. It wasn't your fault," she said. "I'm the one who accidentally threw the doll into the fire. I can always get another doll."

Will wiped away his tears and calmed down a bit. "But there'll never be another doll like Baby Whiskers Bon Bon," he said.

"I thought you hated that doll, like the rest of us did," said Tara.

"I used to hate her, back when she was here and creeping everyone out," said Will. "but now that she's gone and no longer creeping everyone out, I love her."

"I wish I could fix this doll for you, but she looks completely ruined," said Savelina.

"Believe me, she was ruined, way before she got tossed into the camp fire," said Emily, as she grimaced.

More tears were threatening to escape Will's eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. "I'm gonna miss that doll's creepy face," he sadly announced.

"Luke! Matt's here," Luke's father, Gabriel, announced from the back porch. There was a young Korean boy with dark hair and dark eyes, standing next to him, with a sleeping bag under his arm. He was smiling as he waved at Luke.

Luke ran over to the porch and greeted the boy. "Matt, you made it," he happily announced. "Come on, you gotta meet all my new friends. They're really awesome." He lead Matt over to where everyone else was. "Hey everyone, this is my best friend, Matt Simmons," Luke announced. "We used to go to the same school together." He then introduced Matt to each of his new friends.

Matt smiled and waved at everyone. "Hello," he politely said.

The backyard was filled with fireflies. So after roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, the children decided they wanted to capture the fireflies. With the help of Aaron and David, Luke went into the house and retrieved some jars. One for each of his friends.

"Let's see who can capture the most fireflies," Jordan suggested.

"Yeah," everyone agreed with her.

"And we have to release them, after we count them," said Elle. "No one better hurt any of the fireflies."

"If anyone hurts a firefly, their face will be meeting my fists," JJ held up her fist, to let everyone know she was serious.

"She's kind of scary," Matt whispered into Luke's ear.

"Trust me, she is," Luke whispered back. "but she's really nice though, like everyone else here."

The children spent a good five minutes, chasing and capturing fireflies. When they felt like they had captured all the fireflies, they gathered around the campfire and began counting. For the children who had captured very few fireflies, it was very easy to count, but for those who had captured many fireflies, they were having trouble keeping track of the ones they've counted and the ones they didn't count, yet.

"Okay, I lost count after five," said Matt."They all keep flying around in the jar."

"They keep flying around everywhere in my jar too," said Elle. "I tried counting them, but I lost count after three."

"Maybe we should just set them free," Haley suggested.

Everyone agreed with Haley and released all the fireflies they had captured. Well, everyone, except Emily. The other children noticed that Emily was quietly talking to her jar of fireflies. They also noticed some other bugs in Emily's jar.

"Uh… Emily, what are you doing," asked Grant.

"I'm naming my fireflies, before I set them free," said Emily.

"You do realize that four of them are not fireflies, right," asked Stephen.

" Really," Emily brought her jar close to her face and studied it, very carefully. She then held the jar away from her face, when she came to a conclusion. "I think I know exactly which ones you're talking about. I bet it's the ones who's butts keep lighting up. Those little guys are definitely imposters."

"Uh…. Emily… those are the fireflies," said Maeve. "The other four are a praying mantis, a moth, a cricket and a grasshopper."

Once again, Emily brought the jar back up to her face, to study it, even more. "Ah ha! You're absolutely right," she now held the jar away from her face. She then began talking to the bugs again. "Goodbye, Herman… farewell, Claudette… adios, Montgomery… its' been nice knowing ya, Ursula… don't cry, Edgar. This is just another chapter in your life… I'll write you a letter, everyday, Georgietta… Never forget me, Ivan… and good riddance… WAIT, OH MY GOSH," Emily suddenly shouted in terror.

The other children were quickly at her side. Not knowing what was wrong, they shared the same look of terror as Emily.

"What is it? What's wrong, Emily," Ashley asked. The fear in her voice, matched the look of terror on her face.

Emily turned her attention to Ashley and in a more quieter, but clearer tone, said, "Baked Potato is missing! She was one of the fireflies!"

"Really? You gave all the other bugs normal names, and then this one gets Baked Potato," Beth asked in disbelieve.

Emily brought her attention to Beth and said, "Now is not the time for one of your rants on why 'pepperonis and lizards shouldn't be put in ice-cream because they might start fighting'."

"Emily, that doesn't make any sense, at all. I mean, why would anyone put… oh forget it," Beth threw her hands up in the air. "I should know by now that you're a subject changer," she said that last sentence, a bit more quieter, to where no one heard her.

"You all gotta help me find her! She could be anywhere," Emily was now in full on panic mode.

"Emily, calm down," Spencer placed his hand on Emily's shoulder. When he got her to calm down, he continued. "The firefly you're talking about, isn't missing. I'm pretty sure the praying mantis ate it. Praying mantis' eat other bugs."

"Awe! That's really sad," Penelope sniffled.

For the third time, Emily brought the jar up to her face and studied it. She was silent, but after a moment, she turned her attention to Spencer and said, "I think you're right," she then brought her attention back to the jar and said to the praying mantis, "Herman, that was a very bad thing for what you did! Baked Potato was your friend, not your food! Are you happy with yourself? Well, are you," Emily shook the jar, thinking she would get an answer. When she realized she wouldn't get an answer from the praying mantis, she unscrewed the lid of the jar and was prepared to open it and free the bugs. "Well, so long everyone," she said to the bugs as she released the lid and set the bugs free."

Watching all that was happening, in amazement, Matt whispered into Luke's ear, "She's strange."

"Strange, but funny," Luke whispered back.

"Hey kids, who wants to hear a scary story," Gabriel had joined the group of children. "Come over to the campfire and I'll tell you, one," he waved for the children to join him.

The children started to follow him, but Penelope stayed behind, slightly trembling with fear. Only Alex had noticed and she was concerned for Penelope. She reached a hand out and lightly touched Penelope's shoulder.

"What's wrong, Penelope," she asked.

"I don't like scary stories," Penelope said. "They scare me."

"They scare me too," Alex admitted. "but most of them are just made up. They're not real."

"But they're still scary," said Penelope. "I don't want to be scared," she wiped away a tear.

"Don't cry. It'll be okay," Alex comforted her friend. "You know what helps me, when I'm scared?"

"No, what?"

"I always think of something that makes me happy."

"Does that really help," Penelope asked with curiosity.

"Yep, all the time," Alex smiled. "What makes you happy?"

Penelope was quiet for a moment, as she appeared to be thinking. Finally she said, "A lot of things make me happy, but… I think at the moment, it was all those fireflies we captured. Seeing them light up, was so pretty," she couldn't help but smile at the memory from moments ago.

"Okay then, all you have to do is, think of the fireflies, and you won't be scared," said Alex.

"Hey Alex, Penelope! Come on! You're gonna miss the story," Clyde called out. He and the rest of the group were already at the campfire. They were all waiting.

"You ready," Alex held her hand out for Penelope. "You can sit next to me, if you want."

Penelope was hesitant for a moment, but then she took Alex's hand. "Okay, let's go. I don't want to keep them waiting, any longer," she said.

When everyone was finally gathered at the campfire, all eyes and ears were on Gabriel. They couldn't wait to hear what kind of story, he'd tell them. Everyone was huddled together, just waiting.

"Has anyone ever heard of _'The Screaming Children of The Forrest'_ ," Gabriel asked.

"No," all the children said in unison.

"Well, you're about to hear about them, now," Gabriel voice began to turn spooky as he started to tell the story. "Along time ago, about three hundred years ago, before this place was a town, it used to be one giant forest. And in the middle of that forest, directly where our house is at right now, there was this tiny log cabin. It was the only log cabin in that entire forest. Do you all know who lived in that cabin," he asked the children. When they answered 'no', he continued on. "It was a witch and she looked like no other witch. This witch was very…"

"You mean she wasn't an old snaggle tooth, bag of bones with frizzy gray hair, a long nose and wart on her face. And she didn't wear the traditional black dress and pointy hat like all the other witches," Ashley interrupted Gabriel.

"That's exactly what I'm…"

"Well actually, Ashley," Spencer began. No witches really looked like what you just described them as. They all looked like regular people."

"Then why do they look scary in all the books and movies," David asked.

"They only look the way Ashley described them because the people who wrote the books and made the movies, just wanted to scare everyone," Spencer explained. "Trust me, I've done my research on witches before."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Great story, Spence. Now can we please get back to the other story," JJ asked, annoyed.

Spencer shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure."

Hoping for no more interruptions, Gabriel continued on with the story. "Anyway, this witch was a very beautiful witch. She had pale skin, bright green eyes, and her golden hair was very curly. She always wore a dark blue dress with a matching cloak. She may have been beautiful, but she was very dangerous. "

"How was she dangerous," Tara asked.

"I'll get to that part of the story in just a moment," Gabriel promised. "Just right outside of the forest, was a small village of about one hundred people. The adults in the village all warned the children to never step foot inside the forest because if they did, they'd never be seen again. Well, one day, all the children decided to play near the forest. As they were playing, they suddenly heard someone singing. It was the most beautiful voice they had ever heard. Although they were told to never step foot inside the forest, the children just had to know who exactly the voice belonged to. Thinking they'd all be fine, the children marched into the forest. None of them knew that they would never return to the village. When darkness fell upon the village, the adults were growing very worried. When no child returned home, they just knew something was very wrong. So with pitchforks and torches, both the men and women made their journey into the forest. Although they were all scared, they were determined to save the children. After about an hour of walking, they found themselves, in front of the witch's log cabin. Just a few feet away from the cabin, was the witch. She showed no fear towards the people of the village. She stared at them all and with a cackle, she asked _"What have we here?" "Give us our children back," _one of the villagers demanded. _"Or we'll burn you!" _The witch let out another cackle and said _"Have you all have no hearing? Listen closely." _

Gabriel paused for a brief moment to see if everyone was still listening to the story. When he saw that they were, he continued on. "All the villagers suddenly became silent as they tried to listen. After about a moment, they could hear the cries of the children. _"HELLLLLLP USSSSSS," _the children cried_. _The cries were coming from all around, but no one could see the children. Scared and angry, the villagers demanded to have their children back. _"Please, we beg of you! Give the children back to us," _a women was in tears as she pleaded with the witch. _"Ha ha," _the witch cackled. _"Don't go blaming me for your children, wandering off into the forest." _

"The witch has got a point there," Kevin interrupted Gabriel. "They can't really blame her."

"But she tricked all the children into wandering into the forest, by singing," said Maeve. "So, it was her fault."

"Yeah, but all those kids could have ignored the music," said Kevin. "It wasn't like they had to…"

"Hey, how about we let Mr. Alvez finish the story," said Matt.

Gabriel smiled at Matt. "Thank you, Matt," he said. "And remember, it's Gabriel, not Mr. Alvez."

Matt returned the smile. "Okay," he said.

"Good," said Gabriel. "And the same goes for the rest of you."

When there were no more interruptions, Gabriel continued with the story. "In a fit of anger, one of the villagers threw a flaming torch at the witch. The witch was quick enough to move out of harm's way, but the log cabin wasn't so lucky. Within a matter of seconds, it went up in flames. "_My home! My beautiful home," _the witch shrieked. _"You'll pay for this! You'll all pay!" _Suddenly, with the wave of her hand, the witch turned all the villagers into stone. Satisfied, she turned back to her cauldron and continued stirring it. As she was stirring it, a huge gust of wind, knocked her right into the cauldron. She tried to get out, but found herself unable to. It was like she was being held down into the cauldron, by invisible hands. Something or someone had finally gotten revenge on the witch. The end."

"What happened to all the children," asked Savannah. "Did the witch cook them inside the cauldron?"

"I don't know what happened to them. No one knows," said Gabriel.

"Maybe the witch turned all of them, invisible," suggested Jason.

"But wouldn't they have been able to escape from the forest, if they were invisible," Aaron asked.

"Not necessarily," Maeve joined the conversation. "The children were told that if they ever stepped foot inside the forest, they'd never be seen again."

"Wait, what if Aaron's right? What if the children really did escape from forest," Spencer joined in. "The children were never seen again, but they were heard. Heard by all the villagers. And being invisible, means no one can see you," he explained. "I mean it's very possible, that after the witch was pushed into the cauldron, the children were able to escape. The only thing is, they probably never figured out how to undo the curse of being invisible."

"Hate to break it to you, but… the children never did escape the forest," said Gabriel. "They remained within the forest."

"Wait, if all the adults were turned into stone, the witch was boiled alive and all the children are still missing, then how was this story created," Beth asked, suspiciously.

"Who knows? Maybe there was at least one survivor. And maybe this survivor went on to tell the story," said Gabriel. "I mean there is a very strong possibility that…" suddenly with fear in his eyes, Gabriel paused for a moment. "Did you all hear that," he asked in a half whispered tone.

"Hear what," the children were beginning to get scared too.

"Listen very closely," Gabriel whispered. Silence filled the air as the children listened. Suddenly they could hear the cries of many children. "HELLLLLLLLLP USSSSSSS!"

Emily was the first one to jump up. "We better get out of here," she shrieked. Everyone must have agreed with her because they were soon behind her. All of them, running into one of the tents.

Gabriel stood from his chair and walked over to a large tree. Peering behind it, he said, "Nice work, honey. You really scared them."

"Well, I hope not too much," smiling at her husband, Savelina stepped out from behind the tree. In her hands was a tape recorder. "Wouldn't want to give them nightmares."

"Eh… They'll be fine," said Gabriel, with a grin on his face. "I'm sure of it."

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**End of chapter one. So… What did you all think of it? Don't be shy. Tell me whether you loved it or hated it. You all know I'll accept both good and bad reviews. Just don't be too cruel if you hated it. I'll have chapter two up as soon as possible. **


	2. Chocolate Chip Waffles

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews from the previous chapter. I hope you like this next chapter, just as much. **

**Disclaimer: Gabriel and Savelina belong to me. As for all other characters in this chapter… No, no, they do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them.**

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At 9:30 the next morning, all the children were still asleep, in that one crowded tent. Well, everyone except Penelope. Unlike the rest of the children, who tossed and turned throughout the night, she managed to sleep well. And she had Alex to thank for that. If Alex hadn't have told her to think of the fireflies, during the scary story, then Penelope would've had a restless sleep, just like everyone else.

Careful not to be a disturbance, Penelope picked up her backpack and slowly tiptoed around anyone, who may have been in the way. As Penelope was making her way to the tent's exit, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed Savannah was sitting up. Turning towards Savannah, in an apologetic tone, Penelope whispered, "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep."

For a good full minute, Savannah just sat there and glared at Penelope, not saying a word. Penelope was beginning to feel uneasy about the situation. "Um… Savannah, are you…"

"You better not tell the President that I put a thousand ice cubes and a donut in his swimming pool," Savannah suddenly interrupted Penelope. "If you do, I'll shave off your mustache and I'll tell everyone that you have giant bunny feet instead of people feet."

Penelope was very confused now. "What are you talking about," she whispered. "I don't have a mustache or giant bun…" That's when it hit her. Savannah wasn't really talking to her, she was talking in her sleep. Penelope couldn't help but laugh to herself, as Savannah lay back down and went right back to sleep. It was as if nothing had happen, a moment ago.

When she finally made her way out of the tent, Penelope walked into the Alvez home and was greeted by Gabriel and Savelina. Both were already dressed for the day. Gabriel's dark hair was combed neatly, while Savelina's dark hair was pulled back in a long ponytail. They both greeted Penelope with smiles.

"Good morning, sweetie," Savelina said in a cheerful voice. "Did you sleep well, last night?"

"Good morning," Penelope happily replied back. "I slept very well, last night. That story was scary, but it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would. All because, Alex told me to think of something that makes me happy, and that's what I did. I thought of the fireflies."

"I see that you slept in yesterday's clothes," said Gabriel, observing Penelope.

Penelope looked down at herself and saw that he was right. "Yeah… I guess I was too tired to change into my pajamas," she said. "And I guess everyone else was just too scared to leave the tent, to get into their pajamas."

"Well, I hope I didn't scare them too much, with that story," there was some concern in Gabriel's voice. Even Savelina appeared to be worried.

"No, I think they'll be fine," Penelope reassured the two Alvez's.

"That's good to know," said Savelina. "Would you like to help me make breakfast? How does chocolate chip waffles with chocolate syrup sound," she asked, smiling at Penelope.

Penelope returned a smile to Savelina. "That sounds very yummy," she said. "Do you mind if I go change into today's clothes, first," she asked. "I really don't want to wear the same outfit, twice in a row."

"Of course not," said Savelina. "You can change in the bathroom if you want. Do you remember where it is?"

"Yep," said Penelope. "It's the second door on the left, right down the hall." With her backpack in tow, Penelope made her way down the hall and into the bathroom.

Several minutes later, Penelope exited the bathroom, wearing a sunflower dress and a pair of yellow sandals. Her blonde hair was swept up into two side ponytails.

"You look very pretty," Savelina commented on Penelope's outfit.

Penelope smiled. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Savelina happily replied back. "Are you ready to help me make breakfast, now?"

"Yep," Penelope answered. "Where's Gabriel?" She noticed Gabriel was no longer present.

"Oh, he's working in the garden," Savelina said. "He'll be back, soon."

"Oh, ok. I was just wandering."

A little while later, everyone else was still sleeping, but they were soon awaken by the cheerful voice of Penelope. "Rise and shine, everyone," she happily announced. "It's time for breakfast!"

There were a few groans and mumbles among the crowd. No one wanted to wake up, but Penelope was not going to back down. "It's 10:15 in the morning now," she said as she began pulling the blankets off her friends. There were some protests, which Penelope ignored. "Don't any of you want some chocolate chip waffles with chocolate syrup?"

That seemed to do the trick. At the mention of chocolate chip waffles and chocolate syrup, everyone was now up and out of bed.

"Why didn't you say that, in the first place," Kate asked as she rubbed her eyes.

Penelope just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I just thought you'd wake up when I told you all to rise and shine," she said.

With their backpacks in tow, the children walked out of the tent and into the house. When everyone had finally gotten the chance to get dressed, they all walked back outside to the backyard, where a stack of chocolate chip waffles along with a bottle of chocolate syrup, was waiting for them, on the picnic table. Savelina was standing at the side of the table with a plastic container of chocolate syrup and a ladle in her hands. She smiled at the children and said, "Good morning. You ready for some breakfast?"

"Yeah," the children said in unison. They all sat down at the table.

"There's plenty of waffles here. So help yourselves," said Savelina. "If anyone wants any chocolate syrup, let me know and I'll pour it for you, okay?" Suddenly all hands were raised. Savelina took this as an indication that everyone wanted some chocolate syrup. "Looks like everyone wants some," she said as she began pouring the chocolate syrup on each child's plate of waffles.

"Thank you, mommy," said Luke.

"Yeah, thank you," the other children chimed in.

"You are all very welcome," Savelina happily said. "but you'll need to thank Penelope too. She helped me."

"Thank you, Penelope," everyone said in unison.

Penelope smiled at her friends and sweetly said, "You're welcome."

"Would anyone like some strawberry milk or orange juice," Savelina asked. When the children all agreed that they would certainly like some, Savelina went into the house to retrieve the drinks.

A few moments later, Savelina returned with a tray of strawberry milk and orange juice cartons. After each child had gotten what they wanted, Savelina informed them that she would be in the house, working on a few projects and if they needed her, they knew where to find her. After that, she went back into the house, to do whatever it was she needed to do.

For a few moments, the children enjoyed their breakfast in silence. Not a word was said, the only sound that could be heard, was the chirping of birds. After a few moments, Luke broke the silence. "Hey, does orange juice come from orange cows," he asked.

"Uh… no. Orange juice is made from an orange," Spencer informed him. "Everyone knows that."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Let me guess… Next, you're gonna tell us that pink milk does not in fact come from pink cows," she said.

"Exactly," said Spencer. "No matter the color of the cow, the milk that you get from it, is always white."

"Okay then, how is some of the milk, pink or brown or any of those other colors," David demanded to know.

"I bet it's magic," said Beth.

"I had my suspicions on that," said Derek.

"Could be witchcraft," said Clyde.

"I had my suspicions on that too," Derek once again said.

"Isn't magic and witchcraft the same thing," asked Kate.

"No. One starts with an m and the other starts with a w," said Emily.

Kate rolled her eyes and said, "That's not what I meant."

"Isn't anyone gonna tell me, how the milk changes colors," David asked in exasperation.

Spencer let out a heavy sigh. "Milk is able to change colors because there are products you can buy at the grocery store to make it change colors," he explained. "How could you all not have known that?"

"Don't be silly. Of course we all knew it," said Aaron. He then leaned into Stephen and whispered, "I seriously did not know that."

"Me neither," Stephen whispered back.

A little while later, after everyone else had gone home, Matt remained at the Alvez home. He and Luke were sitting in the tree house, in the backyard.

"This is a pretty cool tree house," said Matt.

"Thanks," said Luke. "My dad built it for me, a week after we moved to this town."

"Cool," said Matt. "Your new friends are pretty weird, but I really like them too," he let out a laugh.

Luke also let at a laugh. "I know! They're nothing like any of the other kids I used to know," he said.

"Yeah. All the kids at our school isn't as fun as the ones that go to your new school," Matt agreed.

"Matt, your mother is here," Gabriel shouted from the back porch.

"Thanks, Gabriel," Matt shouted back. He then turned to Luke and said, "I better get going now. My mom's probably waiting for me. Thanks for inviting to the camp out and thanks for introducing me to all your new friends."

"You're welcome," said Luke. "I guess I'll see you later."

"I'll see you later too," said Matt, as he was descending from the tree house steps.

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**End of chapter two. Please leave me some reviews. Good or bad, you know I'll accept both. Just don't be too cruel if you hated the chapter. I'll have chapter three posted as soon as possible. **


	3. Back In Session

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews from the previous chapter! I really appreciate them! I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, just as much.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Damien Benson.**

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A few days had gone by and school was now back in session. The group of children from last year's second grade class, were now third graders. There was no teacher in sight. So for the time being, the children were all huddled at the back of the class room. Nearly everyone wasn't too fond of having to return to school. Well, everyone except Spencer and Maeve. Those two were like kids in a candy store.

"I can't believe we're finally in the third grade," Maeve proudly said.

"Yeah! Just think of all the new stuff we're gonna learn," Spencer agreed.

"Well, you two better believe it," said Alex. "And didn't you spend the entire summer, studying," she asked Spencer. "What else have you got to learn?"

"Yeah, I studied," said Spencer. "but there's more to discover."

JJ rolled her eyes and said, "With you, there is always more to discover."

"I wonder who our teacher is," Derek suddenly changed the subject.

"And where is this so called teacher," David asked.

"Yeah, whoever it is, they're late," said Ashley. "Doesn't school always start at 8:30 in the morning?"

"It's always been that way," said Jason. "Our teacher is definitely running late. It's already 8:45."

Emily, who had been sitting on top of one of the desk, suddenly hopped down and said, "Well, if this so called teacher of ours, isn't gonna show up, then I'm not gonna waste my time, being here, either." She started to walk away, but then turned back to the group. "Anyone want to leave with me," she asked.

"I do," said JJ.

"Me too," said Luke.

The three of them were about to walk out the class room, when suddenly, the door opened and there stood a stranger. The stranger was a tall, athletic looking, middle aged man with short brown hair, light blue eyes and a short beard to match his hair. He was wearing a blue and white pin striped shirt with a pair of tan dress pants and a pair of dark brown dress shoes. The way he glared at the three children, they could tell he was not a friendly person, at all. Without saying a word, Emily, JJ and Luke just looked at each other and returned to their friends, who were all still at the back of the class room.

The man walked in and sat down at the teacher's desk, at the front of the room. "Anyone who is not sitting down at a desk, within the next ten seconds, will be writing the sentence, 'I will be seated at my desk, on time.', three hundred times, during recess today," he said.

Not wanting to write sentences during recess, all the children made a mad dash to any empty desks. Thankfully, they had each gotten to a desk, on time. "Are you our teacher," Stephen asked the man.

"What is your name," the man looked directly at Stephen.

"Stephen Walker," Stephen answered.

"Congrats, Stephen. You get to spend today's recess in here at your desk, writing the sentence, 'I will raise my hand before I speak.', three hundred times," the man rudely and somewhat sarcastically said.

Saddened and slightly embarrassed at the thought of having to miss recess on the first day of school, Stephen hung his head down in shame. His classmates couldn't help but feel sympathy for him, as he wiped away a tear.

The man stood from his chair and walked to the front and center of the class room. "My name is Damien Benson, but you must call me, Mr. Benson," he introduced himself to the students. "and I am your third grade teacher. I am not here to be your friend. I am here to teach you. You will all do as I say, when I say. Am I clear," he asked.

"Yes," the children quietly said.

"I can't hear you. Speak up," Damien demanded.

"Yes," the children said, a little more clearer and louder.

The children all appeared to be afraid of Damien, but not as much as Aaron was. Aaron's hands began to tremble. Not wanting anyone to notice, he quickly slipped his hands, under his desk. Damien reminded him of his own father, Charles. Aaron just knew he needed to stay on his very best behavior, this year. If he had just one little slip up, no matter how small, his father would punish him, very severely and Aaron did not want that to happen.

"Good, now that we've established that," Damien continued. "is there anything, any of you would like to say to me or ask me? Please raise your hand, if you'd wish to speak," he reminded them.

For a moment, no one dared to raise their hand. For they seemed to be afraid, but then, Jason bravely raised his hand and was granted permission to speak. Although he also was afraid, he just knew he had to say something to the teacher.

"I don't think it was right of you to punish Stephen, without giving him a warning first," Jason's voice was a little shaky. "I mean, how were we supposed to have known that we couldn't speak without permission, first?"  
"What is your name," Damien asked.

"My name is Jason Gideon."

"Well, Jason, in this class, there are no warnings. I will absolutely not tolerate any mistakes," said Damien. "You are all old enough to know by now, to not speak unless you are given permission to."

"And you're a jerk," JJ suddenly said. Her classmates gasped. "None of our other teachers were as mean as you are."

Damien brought his attention to JJ. "What is your name," he demanded to know.

"It's Jennifer Jareau," JJ answered, with absolutely no fear. "but my friends call me JJ."

"Well, JJ," Damien began…

"You are not my friend," JJ interrupted him. "I don't like you. So, you can just call me Jennifer."

"I don't like you either, Jennifer," said Damien. Some of the students, flinched at his words towards JJ. _How could a teacher hate a student? _They thought to themselves. "I am not like your previous teachers," Damien continued. "And Jennifer, you can also spend today's recess, indoors and writing the same sentence as Stephen, three hundred times. And you can also write, 'I will not call the teacher mean names.' three hundred times."

JJ just shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. I'm still gonna call you a jerk," she truthfully said.

"You know what, you can just go straight to the principal's office," said Damien. "I'm sure she would love to know how you're behaving on the first day of school."

JJ stood from her chair. "Fine with me," she said as she began walking towards the door. "I'd rather be there, than in here with you." Without saying another word, she marched out of the class room. Her classmates couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

Without saying another word or seeing the expressions on her classmates faces, JJ strolled out of the class room. She almost felt like skipping, as she walked to the principal's office.

Elizabeth Prentiss was busy with some paperwork, when a small fair skinned, blond haired and blue eyed girl, wearing blue jean shorts and a purple tee shirt with a faux gemstone butterfly on the center of it, walked in. Elizabeth glanced up from her paperwork that was on her desk and smiled at the little girl.

"Hi, Jennifer," Elizabeth greeted JJ. "What brings you here, on the first day of school?"

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**End of chapter three. So, here's a little trivia about this chapter… the children's teacher, Damien Benson, is based off my real life third grade teacher, whose last name was also 'Benson.' Just like the character in this story, my third grade teacher was also a jerk. As I recall, Mr. Benson was the first person to ever bully me. I wasn't his only target for bullying. Several of my classmates were also a target of his bullying. And unlike them, to this day, I still have not gotten over what he did. Anyway, enough about my past. Thank you all for reading this chapter. Whether you enjoyed this chapter or you didn't enjoy it, I hope to see some reviews. Just don't be too cruel if you hated it. Chapter four will be posted as soon as possible. **


	4. I Called Him A Jerk

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter. I really appreciate them. I'm sorry, it took me a little longer to update this. Please enjoy this next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Once again, I only own Damien Benson.**

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"It's JJ. Remember? My friends call me, JJ and you're my friend," JJ sat down across from Elizabeth. "I called Mr. Benson a jerk. So he sent me here."

"I see," said Elizabeth. "Would you like to tell me why you called Mr. Benson a jerk?"

There was a bowl of candy on the corner of Elizabeth's desk. JJ leaned forward in her chair and grabbed a handful of candy. "Can I have some of this," she asked, before sitting back.

"Of course. Help yourself," said Elizabeth.

JJ sat back in her chair. "Thanks," she said. "Mr. Benson made Stephen cry. And he's very rude. So, that's why I called him a jerk," she explained.

"Why did he make Stephen cry," there was concern in Elizabeth's voice.

"Because Stephen talked without raising his hand or getting permission first. And Mr. Benson told him he had to spend today's recess, writing the sentence, 'I will raise my hand before I speak.', three hundred times," JJ explained. "Jason told Mr. Benson, he didn't think it was fair of him to punish Stephen, without giving him a warning, first. And I think Jason is right."

"I can understand that," Elizabeth agreed. "Stephen should have gotten a warning, first. Maybe I can talk to Mr. Benson and try to convince him let Stephen off the hook, just this once."

"I also have to write the same sentence as Stephen too," said JJ. "Plus, I have to write, 'I will not call the teacher mean names.', three hundred times. But I told Mr. Benson that I'm still gonna call him a jerk. If he's gonna be mean to us, then I'm gonna be mean to him."

"Well, I don't think that's really gonna help solve anything," said Elizabeth. "And maybe I could also talk to him about letting you off the hook, too. You ready to go back to class? I'll walk with you."

"Okay, but before I go back, do you have a pen and piece of paper, I could borrow," JJ asked. "I need to write something."

"Of course," Elizabeth handed a piece of paper and pen, to JJ.

JJ quickly wrote something down and then folded the piece of paper. "Okay, now I'm ready to go back," she said. "Oh, here's your pen back," she handed the pen over to Elizabeth, who then thanked her.

Damien was in the process of teaching the class, when there was suddenly a knock at the door. He sat his teacher's book down onto his desk and turned to the children and said, "If anyone speaks or gets up out of their seat, while I'm answering the door, you'll be writing sentences, during the next three days of recess. Do you all understand?"

"Yes," the children said, very clearly.

The children remained seated and silent, as Damien answered the door. When Damien opened the door, he saw Elizabeth and JJ, standing outside in the hall. He greeted Elizabeth with a, "Hello, Principal Prentiss. It's nice to see you." He then glared at JJ and said, "I see that you've decided to come back to class. I hope you've learned to behave, properly."

Without saying a word, JJ handed the folded piece of paper to Damien. Unfolding the paper, he silently read to himself. On the paper, JJ had written the following…

"You don't like me, and I don't like you. Until you can learn how to be nice to people and not treat them like they don't matter, I will not talk to you."

Signed,

Jennifer Jareau

Damien refolded the piece of paper and said, "Thank you for this note, Jennifer. Now how about you get back to your seat?"

JJ brushed past Damien and made her way towards her desk.

"Mr. Benson, may I speak with you, for a moment," Elizabeth asked.

"Sure," said Damien. He closed the door behind him, as he and Elizabeth stood outside in the hall.

"JJ told me that she had called you a jerk."

"That's right. She did."

"Well, she also told me that her reason for calling you that, was because you punished Stephen Walker, without giving him a warning, first," Elizabeth continued.

"That's right," said Damien. "I did. I don't tolerate speaking without raising your hand first."

"Look, I understand that," Elizabeth agreed. "but I also understand the children's point of view too. Punishing a child, without giving them a warning first, just doesn't seem reasonable."

"These kids are all old enough by now to understand the rules," said Damien, defending his actions. "When you speak without raising your hand, there will be consequences."

"But when it's a first time offense, you should first give them a warning," Elizabeth tried to reason with him.

"I don't believe in warnings," said Damien. "I expect these kids to be on their best behavior, at all times. And if they hate me for it, then too bad. I'm not here to be friends with them. I'm here to teach them, and that's it."

Elizabeth sighed in aggravation. "I give up," she said as she turned and walked away.

When Damien walked back into the class room, the students were still seated and very silent. "Wow, you all can follow directions," he sarcastically said. He then held up the folded piece of paper, JJ had given him and said, "Oh and Jennifer, this little note that you gave me, you can forget about it. There's no way that I'm going to give into your demands. So… just deal with it."

JJ was hurt by Damien's words, but dared not let it show, as she ignored him. If she cried, then she would know that he had won. And she wasn't about to give him that satisfaction. _This is gonna be the worst year, ever. _She thought to herself. She couldn't wait for the last day of school to arrive. And she just knew all her friends were thinking the same thing, too.

"Okay, without any further interruptions, let's get back to learning," said Damien.

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**End of chapter four. So… What did you all think? Did you love it? Hate it? Were you unbiased about it? Well, however you felt about it, please tell me, by leaving me some reviews. I would really appreciate it, if you did. Chapter five will be up as soon as possible. **


	5. New Student

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews for chapter four. Please enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Damien.**

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A week later, while the children were quietly working on a math assignment, they were interrupted by their teacher.

"I need everyone's attention, for a moment, please," Damien demanded of his students.

Knowing better than to disobey their teacher, all the children brought their attention to him. When they brought their attention to Damien, they noticed a very familiar looking boy, standing next to him. Luke was especially pleased about this. He wanted to say something, but he just knew that if he spoke without raising his hand or getting permission from the teacher, he'd be punished for it. So, he just kept his mouth shut. Everyone stayed quiet, as Damien spoke.

"We have a new student," Damien said, stating the obvious. "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone," he suggested to the familiar looking boy.

"Okay, sure," the boy agreed, as he smiled. "Hi, I'm sure most of you remember who I am, seeing how we met a couple of weeks ago, at Luke's house," he said to the class, "but in case you may have forgotten my name, I'm Matt Simmons."

"Oh, so you know everyone here," Damien asked.

"Yeah, we met a couple of weeks ago," said Matt. "but I've known Luke since I was three years old."

"Oh, that's nice," said Damien. "Now there are rules in this class room, you may not speak, unless you raise your hand and are given permission to speak. I expect you to be on your best behavior at all times. And I will not tolerate any mistakes. Do you understand," he asked Matt.

"Yes," said Matt.

"Good. You can sit next to Ashley," said Damien. "I'm sure you know who she is."

"Yeah, I know who she is," Matt said, as he made his way to his desk and sat down.

A couple of hours later, the children were outside for recess. It was a nice, warm and sunny day out. All the children were sitting underneath the jungle gym.

"Why didn't you tell me, you were going to move here," Luke asked his best friend.

"I didn't even know I was moving here," said Matt. "All I knew is that one day my dad got a job offer that required us to leave and then the next day, we moved into a house, here. By the way, Mr. Benson seems kind of scary and mean," he said, suddenly changing the subject. "Please tell me, I'm just jumping to the wrong conclusion. Right?"

"You're not jumping to the wrong conclusion," said JJ. "That jerk really is like that. I refuse to talk to him, until he can learn how to be nice to others."

"Part of me really wishes I had stayed in the fifth grade, when I got to skip a couple of grades last year. That way, I wouldn't have to be in Mr. Benson's class," Spencer admitted. "but then again, I would miss all of you."

"There is no way that you are leaving us again," said Maeve. "If we have to suffer through this terrible year, then you're gonna suffer with us."

"I promise I won't be skipping anymore grades," said Spencer.

"Good, I really didn't want to have to plan another spy mission and break you out of another grade," said Emily.

"Spy mission," there was a confused look on Matt's face.

"She likes to pretend she's a spy," Stephen said.

"Excuse me, but I don't pretend to be a spy. I am a spy," Emily said, defensively.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Stephen apologized. "I won't call you a pretend spy, anymore."

"You better not or next time you do, I'm gonna have Agent Flippity Floppy Moonbeam Nacho Sauce beat you up," Emily threatened, as she pointed at Elle. "And don't think she won't do it! Because she will!"

"No, I won't! That's just mean," said Elle. "And I'm bored. I'm gonna go play on the swings. Anyone want to go with me?"

" I'll go with you," said Kate. She was about to stand up, but was abruptly pulled back down, by Emily. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

"Don't go with her, Agent Banana Nut Sour Punch. It's a trap," Emily warned. "If you go with her, she'll trap you in her evil lair, five hundred feet beneath the earth's surface."

"You have an evil lair," Penelope asked Elle. The fear could be heard in her voice.

"Don't be ridiculous, Penelope. Of course I don't have an evil lair," said Elle. "Emily's just trying to scare everyone."

"I'm sure Hedwig, Yoshi and Ferdinand all must have been scared, when you trapped them, on the second day of kindergarten," Emily sent an evil glare towards Elle.

"I never…"

"Wait a minute, I don't remember any kid in our kindergarten class, with those names," Derek interrupted Elle. Several of the other children agreed with him.

"Yeah, I don't remember, either," said Aaron.

"That's because there never was any kids in our kindergarten class with those names," Spencer explained.

"No, it's because unlike the rest of you, I have a perfect memory," Emily snootily said. "I remember everything."

"No, you don't," Spencer said. "but I do."

Emily was quiet for a moment, before finally speaking. "You're absolutely right," she cheerfully announced to Spencer.

"Okay, I'm confused. Did Elle trap three kids in an evil lair, on the second day of kindergarten or not," Will asked.

"No, she did not," said Spencer.

"Oh okay. I was just wondering," said Will.

"What kind of names are Hedwig, Yoshi and Ferdinland, I mean Ferdipan, I mean Ferdipindot, I mean… Ugh! You know what I mean," Luke threw his hands up in anger, as he was having trouble with saying, 'Ferdinand.'

"It's Ferdinand," Emily corrected him. "And how am I supposed to know what kind of names those are?! I don't write all the stuff that comes out of my mouth! I just say it!"

"RECESS IS OVER! IT'S TIME TO GO BACK INSIDE," Damien's voice could be heard throughout the playground. He had been standing on the outdoor basketball court. "LET'S GO! MOVE IT OR YOU'LL ALL BE WRITING SENTENCES!"

"Really? Recess is over, already," Kevin asked in disbelief.

Spencer looked down at his wrist watch. "Actually, we still have ten minutes left," he said.

"Then why is he making us leave recess, early," Ashley asked, as everyone else were wondering the same.

"Because he's a jerk, who doesn't want anyone to have any fun," said JJ.

"Maybe we should get going," suggested Aaron. He did his best to contain the fear in his voice. "I don't want to get in trouble and have to write sentences."

"Yeah," many of the children agreed.

Several of the children began running towards their teacher, but JJ, Emily, Clyde, Spencer, Beth and Tara decided to walk, instead. When they finally met up with the rest of their friends and teacher, Damien did not looked too pleased with them.

"So, I guess the rules don't apply to the six of you," he sarcastically said. "The rest of your class arrived here, on time. Why couldn't you?"

"Mr. Benson, we still have ten minutes left of recess," Spencer bravely said. "Those who ran, didn't get here on time. They got here, early. And so did the six of us, just not at the same moment as they did."

"The six of you, will be writing the sentence, 'I will follow the orders of my teacher.', five hundred times," Damien said, ignoring Spencer's statement.

In a single file line, the children quietly marched back into the school and into their classroom. The six children who had received punishment from Damien, soon began writing their sentences. None of them were happy about it, but they also did not regret disobeying their teacher's orders.

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**End of chapter five. Let me know what you thought of it, by leaving me some reviews. I'd really appreciate it, if you did. I'll have chapter six posted as soon as possible. **


	6. Please Don't Send Me Home

**A/N: Thank you all for reviewing chapter five. I really appreciate it. Please enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Damien and Lois.**

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Aaron held his little brother, Sean's hand, as he walked him to the school nurse's office. Moments after their mother had dropped them off at the school, Sean suddenly became ill and vomited.

"Are they gonna send me home," Sean asked, as he and Aaron were waiting on the bench outside the nurse's office. Juliet Tillerson, the school nurse, was checking on another student, at the moment.

"Yeah, probably," answered Aaron.

A look of sadness suddenly crossed Sean's face and tears began welling up in his eyes. Aaron had noticed. "What's wrong," he asked.

"Mrs. Strauss said she was going to bring cookies for the class today," Sean sobbed. "And if I have to go home, I won't get any."

"It'll be okay," Aaron comforted Sean. "It's not like you'll never get any cookies, ever."

"But I wanted to get a cookie, today."  
"I'm sorry," was all Aaron could say to the crying five year old.

About a moment or two later, Erin Strauss walked by, with a plate of cookies for her students. She stopped, when she saw the two Hotchner children. Smiling, she greeted them.

"Hello boys. What brings you two to the nurse's office," she asked.

"Hello Mrs. Strauss," Aaron said with a small smile. "Sean got sick, right after our mommy dropped us off at school," he explained.

Erin had a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get to feeling better, Sean," she then noticed that the five year old little boy had been crying. "Well, there's certainly no need to cry over being sick. Everyone gets sick, every once in a while," she reassured him.

"That's isn't what he's upset about," said Aaron. "He's crying because he said if he gets sent home today, then he won't get any of the cookies that you're bringing for your class today," he explained.

"Oh, I see," said Erin. "Well, how about I send a cookie, home, with you? Does that sound like a good idea," she smiled at Sean.

Sean wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and smiled. "Okay," he said.

Erin selected a plastic wrapped chocolate chip cookie from the plate, and held it back for a moment. "If I give you this, you have to promise me, you'll wait until you get better, to eat it. Do we have a deal," she asked.

"Yes," said Sean. He happily took the cookie from his teacher and placed it into his backpack.

"Sean, what do you say," Aaron asked.

"Thank you, Mrs. Strauss," said Sean.

Erin smiled. "You are very welcome," she said. "Aaron, would you like a cookie, too," she asked. "I made a lot of extras."

"Yes, please," Aaron smiled. He then thanked Erin for the cookie, as he placed it into his backpack.

"So, how are you liking the third grade," Erin asked.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders and simply said, "It's okay."

"Seems to me as though, you don't like it too well," Erin noticed the tone in Aaron's voice. "Is there something wrong?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, once again. "No, it's just that whenever anyone in the class makes mistakes, Mr. Benson doesn't give us any warnings."

"Well, that doesn't seem very fair," said Erin. "You should be given warnings, first."

"He says he doesn't believe in warnings," Aaron said of his teacher.

Less than a moment later, the previous kid walked out of Nurse Tillerson's office and she could be heard saying, "Next.".

"That's you Sean," said Aaron. "Want me to go in with you?"

Sean nodded his head in a 'yes' motion.

"I should be getting back to my classroom now," said Erin. "Sean, I hope you get to feeling better, soon. And Aaron, it was nice seeing you again."

"Thanks. It was nice seeing you again, too," said Aaron as he walked into the Nurse's office, with Sean.

Fifteen minutes later, Lois Hotchner arrived to take Sean home. Although it was a fairly warm day, she was wearing jeans and a long sleeve orange shirt. There was a fresh dark bruise below her right eye. Aaron and Sean knew what or more likely who had caused it.

Lois smiled and knelt down as she greeted her two sons with hugs and kisses. She was a little confused to see both her children, waiting for her. "Aaron, am I taking you home, too," she asked. "I thought I was only taking Sean home, this morning."

"No, mommy. You're not taking me home," said Aaron. "Sean was afraid to go to the nurse's office by himself. So I went with him," he explained. "Are you mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad," she gently placed her hand on the side of her eldest son's face. "You're such a caring big brother. I hope you'll always be that way."

"I will. I promise," said Aaron.

Lois then turned her attention to Sean and said, "Okay sweetie, you ready to go home now? I'll make you some chicken noodle soup, so you can get better."

"With crackers too," Sean asked.

"Of course. We can't forget about the crackers, now can we," Lois smiled at her youngest son.

Sean smiled back. "No, we can't," he said.

After watching his mother and little brother leave, Aaron stood up from the bench and began walking to his classroom. Although he was going to be late, he hoped his teacher would understand. Technically school didn't start until 8:30 in the morning and it was only 8:40. So Aaron wasn't that much late.

Damien was busy teaching his students how to write cursive, when he was suddenly interrupted, by the door opening. He turned his head to see who it was, and saw Aaron walking into the classroom.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Benson," said Aaron. "My little brother got sick, when we got to school and he didn't want to wait for our mom, by himself," he explained.

"Get out," Damien coldly said to the eight year old.

Aaron was confused. "But I said I was sorry."

"I don't care," said Damien. "You know the rules. You know school begins at 8:30, not at 8:40. You can't just show up at any time you'd like. So, for the next three days, you can stay home."

Aaron was almost in tears. "Please don't send me home," he begged. I promise I'll never be late again. And I'll write sentences for the rest of the year, even if it means missing recess. Just please don't sent me home."

"Nope, sorry. My decision is final," Damien was unsympathetic.

Aaron could no longer hold his tears in, as he began crying. His friends didn't like what they were seeing. This was the first time, any of them had seen him cry, and it broke their hearts.

"He said he was sorry," JJ angrily said, breaking her vow to never speak to Damien. "And you were late, on the first day of school! Or did you forget about that?"

All the other children agreed with JJ. They too, did not think it was fair how their teacher was treating Aaron. They all began talking at once, about how unfair Damien was being.

Damien angrily slammed his fists down onto his desk, shouting, "ENOUGH!" The children were startled and immediately silenced. Damien then lowered his voice to normal, but continued to speak in a harsh tone. "Seems to me as though, you've forgotten the no talking, unless given permission rule! So for the rest of the week, you can all miss recess and write sentences! And you can all thank Jennifer for that," he said. "I thought I told you to get out of here," he said, as he noticed Aaron, still standing there and crying. He grabbed him by the arm and lead him out of the classroom.

Elizabeth Prentiss was in her office, sitting at her desk, when Damien walked in, with Aaron. She could tell the young boy was evidently upset. "What's going on," she asked, with concern in her voice.

"Aaron decided he would be late for class today," said Damien. "And I don't tolerate lateness. So I'm sending him home, for the next three days."

"But I don't want to go home," Aaron sniffled.

Elizabeth felt sympathy for the child. "Mr. Benson, I really don't think sending him home for three days, is necessary," she said. "All he did was be a little late for class. That's certainly not something to be suspended for."

Damien was quiet for a moment, as he appeared to be thinking. Finally, he spoke, "Fine, I'll lift the suspension. But he is not welcomed back to my class, today," he said.

"That's alright, he can spend the day in here, with me," said Elizabeth. "I could use some help for the day." She turned her attention to Aaron and smiled and asked, "How would you like to be my assistant for the day?"

Although there were still a few tears, Aaron managed to return a smile and nodded his head in a 'yes' motion. Without saying another word, Damien walked out of the office. It was very noticeable that he was slightly angry, over not getting his way.

Aaron sat down in the chair across from Elizabeth's desk. She offered him a piece of candy, and he happily accepted it. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Elizabeth replied back. "Now, do you want to tell me, why you're upset about going home."

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just don't want my daddy to be mad at me, again," he said. "And when he gets mad at me, he always… Never mind, I don't want to talk about it."

"If you don't want to tell me anything, that's alright," there was a look of concern on Elizabeth's face, as she reassured the young boy. She felt as though, he was hiding something from her. "But I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk about anything, I'll listen, okay?"

"Okay," said Aaron. He wanted to tell her about how abusive his father was, but he was afraid that if he told, then the abuse would only get worse.

"Good, now that we got that out of the way, let's begin with today's work," Elizabeth said. "How would you like to read this morning's announcements?"

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**End of chapter six. Thanks for reading it. I really hope to see some reviews. Good or bad, you know I'll accept both. Just don't be too cruel, if you hated it. Chapter seven will be posted as soon as possible. **


	7. Absent

**A/N: Thank you to those of you, who read and reviewed the previous chapter. I appreciate it! I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I only own Damien Benson.**

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The following morning, Damien was once again, giving his students a lesson on cursive writing. "Yesterday, I taught you all how to write letters A through E, in cursive. Today, we're gonna learn how to write letters F through J, in cursive, he said, as he stood at the front of the room, next to the chalk board. "Now, pay very close attention. I don't want to have to repeat myself. First, we'll start off with the letter F." He was in the process of writing a cursive F, until he was interrupted by the intercom in his classroom. Elizabeth's voice could be heard, on the other end.

"Mr. Benson," Elizabeth waited for an answer.

"Yes, can I help you with something," Damien asked.

"I just wanted to inform you that Lois Hotchner, Aaron's mother just called and said that Aaron will not be attending school today. He has the flu," Elizabeth announced.

"Thank you for notifying me," said Damien.

"You're welcome," Elizabeth ended the conversation. And Damien went back to teaching his students, how to write cursive.

He wrote a cursive F on the chalkboard and told the class to do the same. The class was easily able to copy the letter. When the class got to the next letter, G, a few of them were having trouble with copying it. Kate, Kevin and David all raised their hands and waited patiently.

"What do the three of you need," Damien asked, when he finally saw their hands.

"We keep messing up on the letter G," the three children said, in unison.

Damien rolled his eyes, at the thought of having to repeat himself. "Okay, I 'm gonna write it, again. Please pay very close attention. It really isn't that difficult to write the letter G, in cursive," he said.

"But it must be difficult to be nice to people," Emily mumbled under her breath. Thankfully, Damien didn't hear her.

After a few moments, the three children finally got the hang of writing a cursive G. "Okay, can we move on to the next letter now," Damien asked them. There was a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Yes," the three students said in unison.

"Good. Now let's move on to the letter H," said Damien. "This is a very simple one. As long as you all pay attention, you shouldn't have a problem with it," he then began writing a cursive H, on the chalk board.

After everyone had successfully written a cursive H, they moved onto the next two letter, I and J. Both letters were fairly simple for them. However, Ashley was having some trouble with the letters. She raised her hand and waited.

"You having trouble, Ashley," Damien asked.

"Yes," Ashley answered.

Damien sighed and then called upon Maeve, who was sitting next to Ashley, who was just finishing up her letters. "Maeve," he asked.

Maeve looked up from her paper, "What," she asked.

"Do you have the hang of writing these letters in cursive," Damien asked.

"Yes I do," Maeve answered honestly. "Do you want me to help Ashley?"

"I'd appreciate it, if you would," Damien said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered to Maeve. "I'm just having trouble with these two letters," she seemed ashamed.

Maeve gave her friend a reassuring smile. "It's okay," she said. "You don't have to apologize," she then began helping Ashley with the two letters.

Soon, after a few moments, Ashley was finally writing a perfect cursive I and J. "I think I got it," she smiled proudly at Maeve. "Thank you."

Maeve returned a smile and said, "You're welcome." The two shared a quiet high five.

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**End of chapter seven. I gotta admit, I didn't really know where I was going with this chapter. I just threw a bunch of words together and hoped for the best. Anyway, let me know what you all thought of it. I'll accept both good and bad reviews. Just please don't be too cruel if you hated it. Chapter eight will be posted as soon as possible. **


	8. Are You Okay?

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter! Sorry it took me awhile to update this story. I realized it's been almost three months since I last posted. I hope you all are still reading this story. Anyway… here is the eighth chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I only own Elaina, Charles and Lois.**

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A week had gone by, and Aaron still had not returned to school. His classmates were starting to worry about him.

"He's never been gone, this long," Jason said, as he and the rest of the class sat under the jungle gym, during recess.

"Has anyone noticed he's been acting really weird, lately," asked Spencer. "Like he's afraid of something or someone."

"If you mean Mr. Benson… then no, I don't think that's weird," said Derek. "Everyone's afraid of him."

"No, I mean someone else, other than Mr. Benson," Spencer explained. "Don't you think it's strange that he didn't want to go home, the other day, when he arrived to the classroom, late?"

"Maybe there's a scary ghost in his house," suggested Penelope. "And that's why he doesn't want to go home?"

"Speaking of scary ghosts," Emily, who was dangling from the jungle gym, upside down, began to speak. "one time, I woke up in the middle of the night, to get a glass of chocolate syrup, I saw a very scary ghost."

"You saw a ghost? What did you do," Kate was eager to know.

"I bravely stood there and yelled, "Get out of my house!"," Emily shouted at the top of her lungs, as she did a flip from the jungle gym and landed safely on both her feet. "but… turns out, it wasn't a ghost, after all. It was just my great aunt, Ebony… in a white face mask. I forgot that she and my great uncle Abner were staying there, for the weekend. Boy, was she mad at me! I mean, is it really my fault that she can't tell the difference between a light switch and an electrical fence? No, no it is not."

"How can you drink chocolate syrup," Tara asked.

Emily looked at Tara, as if she had spoke in some unknown foreign language. "Um… You get a cup, pour an entire bottle of chocolate syrup into it and place a straw into the glass. I mean, how else are you gonna drink it?"

"I just thought… You know what? Never mind," Tara was about to say something, but decided against it. "Forget that I asked."

"We have to figure out, what's wrong with Aaron," David said, going back to the subject of their classmate and friend.

"I live across the street from him. I can always ask my parents, if I could go over to his house, today. I might be able to find out what's wrong with him," Elle suggested.

"I'm having a birthday party, next week and I was gonna pass out the invitations, today," said Clyde. "I'll just give Aaron's invitation to you, Elle, and you can give it to him, okay?"

"Okay," Elle agreed.

Later, that afternoon, Elle was laying on her stomach, on the living room floor, coloring a picture of a pretty princess. Her father, Robert was sitting in his favorite chair, reading the newspaper. Her mother, Elaina had gone to the grocery store, to pick up a few things.

Suddenly remembering the invitations, that were upstairs, in her book bag, Elle quickly rose to her feet and hurried to her bedroom. Robert couldn't help but wonder, what that was all about. "Hey princess, where's the fire," he jokingly called out.

Ignoring his question, Elle returned to the living room, with the two invitations. "Daddy, my friend Clyde is having a birthday party, next weekend," she began. "And he wanted to know if I could give Aaron's invitation to him? Aaron wasn't at school today," she explained, before Robert could even ask. "He hasn't been in school, since last week."

A look of concerned had appeared on Robert's face. "Since last week? I hope he's alright," he said.

"Me too, daddy," said Elle. "So, can I give this invitation to him?" She held one of the invitations up.

"Yes, you may," Robert answered.

"Thanks, daddy," Elle kissed the side of her father's face, before hurrying out the front door.

"Be sure to look both ways, before you cross the street," Robert reminded his daughter.

"I will," Elle promised.

Elle rung the doorbell of the Hotchner home and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. She began to tap her foot, not out of boredom. It was just something she would occasionally do, while she was waiting for something or someone. About a moment later, she was greeted by Aaron. Her face turned pale, when she saw his face.

"Aaron, what, what happened to your face," she asked. Aaron's bottom lip was split and his left eye was swollen and bruised.

Desperately wanting to tell his friend, the truth, but knowing he'd get in trouble for it, Aaron decided to lie. "Oh, hey Elle," he began. "I'm okay. I just tripped and fell onto one of Sean's toys. He's always leaving them lying around, everywhere," he forced out a fake laugh.

Elle also let out a forced laugh, as she had a feeling that her friend wasn't telling her the truth. "Clyde's having a birthday party, next week and he wanted me to give this to you," she held up the invitation.

"Thank you," Aaron took the invitation from Elle.

"You're welcome," said Elle. There was a moment of silence between the two. "Aaron, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I told you, I tripped and fell onto one of Sean's toys."

"No, I mean… It's just that you've been out of school since last week and you've been acting strange, lately. Like, you're afraid of someone or something," Elle explained to her friend. "If something's wrong, my daddy's a police officer. He can help you."

Tears were beginning to well up, in Aaron eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "I'm fine, I promise. I've just been sick, this past week," he lied. "I promise I'll be back to school, soon."

Elle was hesitant to believe him. She felt there was more to his story, than he was telling. She sighed deeply and said, "Okay, but just remember… If you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask."

Aaron gave a small smile. "Okay, thanks Elle.

Robert had just finished reading the last page of the newspaper, when Elle returned. As he placed the newspaper on the glass coffee table, he could tell by the worried expression on his daughter's face, something is wrong. This caused him to become concern.

"Hey Princess, what's wrong," he asked.

"Daddy, I think someone's hurting Aaron."

"You think someone's hurting Aaron," Robert repeated what his daughter said. "What do you mean? Did you see someone hurt him?"

"No, but when he answered the door, his bottom lip was bleeding and he had a black eye. He told me that he tripped over one of his little brother's toys," Elle explained.

"Well, maybe he did," Robert said, in more of a hopeful tone.

"No, daddy. I don't think he did. I think he's lying about it," said Elle. "He's been acting really strange, lately. Almost like he's afraid of something or someone."

Later that evening, as Elaina was cooking dinner and Elle and Robert were setting the table, Robert's mind kept going back to the conversation, he had with his daughter, earlier. "Hey, you think you two will be able to manage all this work, for a few moments," he asked. "I'd like to pay the Hotchner's a visit, for a few moments. See how they're doing."

Elaina smiled at her husband and said, "I think Elle and I will be just fine," she then gave her husband a quick kiss.

Robert made his way, across the street, to the Hotchner house. After ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by Lois. "Good evening, Robert," she smiled politely. "Can I help you with something?"

"Good evening to you too, Lois," Robert returned a smile. "I hope I'm not bothering you, but…"

"Oh, no. You're not bothering me, at all," Lois politely interrupted him. "I was just serving dinner to my family."

"Well, in that case, this will only take a moment," Robert promised. "You see, my little girl, Elle has been very concerned about Aaron, lately. Is everything okay, here?"

Lois desperately wanted to tell him, "No. No, everything was not okay.", and she was about to, until… a voice came up, behind her and answered for her. "Everything's fine here," Charles said. "Lois, why don't you go check on the boys?"

"You're right. I better make sure they aren't doing something they shouldn't be," Lois walked away, leaving the two men alone.

"Well, is Aaron alright," Robert asked.

"Aaron," Charles was taken aback by Robert's question. "Why do you want to know about the well being of my son?"

"I'm sorry… It's just that my daughter said he hasn't been in school for a week, now. And she has been really worried about him."

"He has the stomach flu," Charles lied. "And I don't think you or any of the other parents would want him spreading it around to his classmates."

Robert could sense the hostility in Charles' voice, but he stood his ground. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he feels better soon. I just got one more thing to ask you… How did Aaron end up with a black eye and split lip?"

Charles was silent for a moment. He then folded his arms acrossed his chest and said, "My son is a very clumsy child. He tripped over the rug, in the living room and hit his face on the corner of the coffee table.

"Oh, that's interesting," said Robert.

"And how's that," Charles asked.

"You see, my daughter told me that he told her that he fell onto one of his little brother's toys. I have a feeling both you and him are lying. You're lying to protect yourself. And Aaron is lying because he doesn't want to make you mad," Robert could see that Charles was getting angry, but he continued. "If you're abusing him, you better pray I never find out about it because there will be hell to pay. Understand?"

"I think it's time, you get off my porch," Charles demanded.

"You have a good evening, Charles," Robert said with a smirk as he turned and walked away.

Charles slammed the door shut and marched into the dining room, where his wife and children were sitting at the table, waiting for him. Their food had been untouched. They weren't allowed to start eating, until he was sitting down at the table. Charles marched over to Aaron, picked up his plate and threw it across the room, hitting the wall.

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**End of chapter eight. I'd really appreciate some reviews. This was a bit of a cliffhanger ending because the aftermath will pick up, in the next chapter. **


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